[abojodeh]

good good news

[marty davidson]

sure they have Ballack Deco and mikel can all play center midfield

[reddwarf]

Chelsea have officially confirmed that it's knee ligament damage and Essien will be out for 'several months'.

Very bad news for Chelsea. Ballack and Mikel can play in that position but neither are as good at protecting the back 4 imo.

[Jazz 16]

Essien is one of the best midfielders in the World but Chelsea still have great
alternatives in the shape of Lampard, Mikel, Ballack and Deco. If any team
(apart from United) could afford to lose a midfielder its definitely Chelsea.
Sure they were playing him at RB last season at times.
Anyway, Chelsea's loss is everyone else's gain, but I do wish him well in his
recovery as its a crappy time for the player involved.

[owenrooneyruud]

everyone has had injury problems but chelski i found with the exception of drogba.. they have been lucky but now with this news it will hurt them since he is the best midfielder they have..

[RichardsReds]

Don't be fooled lads, chelsea have the depth for this to hardly make a difference to their results.

[Nemanjaaa]

I think this is a real blow for Chelsea, Essien is by far one of their best players. Really versatile too. I think we really missed out on him. Chelsea won't struggle with cover, but i doubt any of them can do the job he does.

[Jazz 16]

From a more reliable source than The Sun....bbc. So its true alright.

Chelsea's Michael Essien has been ruled out for more than five months after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ea/7606271.stm

[Keano!]

Well thats out of the Blue, eh?

Its terible to hear of such an injury really....especially when its not even been
sustained with the club. It was while on international duty. Big blow for Chelski
though.

Its not as f they can't replace with quality though...now is it? ....They'll
realy feel his absence when they play Bolton, West Ham, Blackburn etc... The
teams with physicality and teams who are willing to stick a foot in there. He's a
player who won't shy away from such a challenge whereas Deco, Lampard,
Ballack..not the players that come to mind when you think of bravery now are
they?

It will also hit them when the new year comes...and players are tiring and a fresh
pair of legs are needed....

[manutd004]

Fantastic news for us, whether they have plenty of cover or not.

We are well stocked in midfield, but if we had a place, and we were offered him, I'd grab him with both hands.

Hes one of the best midfielders in the World, and imo, is Chelseas best midfielder. And I also think that when they play him as a holding midfielder, they lose so much. His best position is as a box to box central midfielder.

He will be out for a while. Michael Owen had the same injury and was out for 10 months.